Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

By: Jon Meacham

Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham

Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • Entertainment Weekly • The Seattle Times • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Bloomberg Businessweek

In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era. Philosophers think; politicians maneuver. Jefferson’s genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the art of power. Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation, and yet his understanding of power and of human nature enabled him to move men and to marshal ideas, to learn from his mistakes, and to prevail. Passionate about many things—women, his family, books, science, architecture, gardens, friends, Monticello, and Paris—Jefferson loved America most, and he strove over and over again, despite fierce opposition, to realize his vision: the creation, survival, and success of popular government in America. Jon Meacham lets us see Jefferson’s world as Jefferson himself saw it, and to appreciate how Jefferson found the means to endure and win in the face of rife partisan division, economic uncertainty, and external threat. Drawing on archives in the United States, England, and France, as well as unpublished Jefferson presidential papers, Meacham presents Jefferson as the most successful political leader of the early republic, and perhaps in all of American history.

The father of the ideal of individual liberty, of the Louisiana Purchase, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and of the settling of the West, Jefferson recognized that the genius of humanity—and the genius of the new nation—lay in the possibility of progress, of discovering the undiscovered and seeking the unknown. From the writing of the Declaration of Independence to elegant dinners in Paris and in the President’s House; from political maneuverings in the boardinghouses and legislative halls of Philadelphia and New York to the infant capital on the Potomac; from his complicated life at Monticello, his breathtaking house and plantation in Virginia, to the creation of the University of Virginia, Jefferson was central to the age. Here too is the personal Jefferson, a man of appetite, sensuality, and passion.

The Jefferson story resonates today not least because he led his nation through ferocious partisanship and cultural warfare amid economic change and external threats, and also because he embodies an eternal drama, the struggle of the leadership of a nation to achieve greatness in a difficult and confounding world.

Praise for Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

“This is probably the best single-volume biography of Jefferson ever written.”—Gordon S. Wood

“A big, grand, absorbing exploration of not just Jefferson and his role in history but also Jefferson the man, humanized as never before.”—Entertainment Weekly

“[Meacham] captures who Jefferson was, not just as a statesman but as a man. . . . By the end of the book . . . the reader is likely to feel as if he is losing a dear friend. . . . [An] absorbing tale.”—The Christian Science Monitor

“This terrific book allows us to see the political genius of Thomas Jefferson better than we have ever seen it before. In these endlessly fascinating pages, Jefferson emerges with such vitality that it seems as if he might still be alive today.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin

©2012 Jon Meacham (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A true triumph. In addition to being a brilliant biography, this book is a guide to the use of power. Jon Meacham shows how Jefferson's deft ability to compromise and improvise made him a transformational leader. We think of Jefferson as the embodiment of noble ideals, as he was, but Meacham shows that he was a practical politician more than a moral theorist. The result is a fascinating look at how Jefferson wielded his driving desire for power and control." (Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs)

"This is probably the best single-volume biography of Jefferson ever written; it is certainly the most readable." (Gordon Wood, author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution)

“Jon Meacham resolves the bundle of contradictions that was Thomas Jefferson by probing his love of progress and thirst for power. Here was a man endlessly, artfully intent on making the world something it had not been before. A thrilling and affecting portrait of our first philosopher-politician.” (Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life)

Riveting, enlightening, fascinating

I loved this book. So much for what I thought I knew of TJ. I now feel like I know the actually man and I have a new found love for him, Thank you Jon.

Thought provoking

This book is so thought-provoking regarding the complex life of Thomas Jefferson. I learned so much about this critical period of the late 1700s and early 1800s. The parallels with politics in America today are striking.
I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in American history.

Jefferson

Great book about a great man during tumultuous times. A look back at the formation of our country.

Excellent Book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Fantastic biography. When I finished the book I became emotional as it was like I was loosing a close friend.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

Good Story, Shrewd Politician

Meacham writes very and the narrator was superb! I believe that Jefferson did not really believe in Liberty for humanity. The very saddles he placed on the backs of his slaves were not removed until his death. Perrhaps if he had fought for the abolition of slavery, we could have avoided a horrific Civil War and this nation would have come closer to the peaceful existence of diverse groups of people. But Jefferson was a lazy Southern elitist who believed himself superior to the poor black slaves who worked from sunup to sundown to fulfill his every need. If he believed in a god, it was the god of power and money and not the God who created all men free! If he believed in Enlightenment and education, he withheld it from the blacks he owned and denied it to the 3/5 that elected him president in 1801. If he believed in reason, he justified that blacks and whites could not live together in peace. If he believed in compassion and sympathy, he was too cowardly to extend that compassion to Sally Hemmings and the children he sired by her. if he believed in the words that he copied in the Declaration of Independence, he would have devoted his life to ensuring the liberties of all mankind.

Yes, Jefferson was shrewd and cunning and thought in terms of political expediency. He did not have the moral character of John Adams nor the political will of John Quincy Adams to end and abolish slavery! For all his greatness, he faces a greater judge than mankind.

So sad that it ended

Would you listen to Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power again? Why?

Absolutely... I re-listened to many passages multiple times to be certain I caught all the detail.

What did you like best about this story?

An attentive listener can develop a very personal relationship with TJ.

What does Edward Herrmann and Jon Meacham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The patience to savor the words of TJ... allow TJ's conception of human liberty to blossom in the mind of the listener.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

It is hard to imagine a film doing justice to this material.

Fabulous work on Leadership

Shows how Jefferson was able to use his leadership skills by taking a moderate approach in life

The man to look up to in life

This is one of the best book anyone - Male or female, student or worker, businessman or worker, can and should read or listen. The story was so captivating, it was hard to put it away.
Amazing man he was, with flaws and virtues of a common man. But with extraordinary qualities.

Would listen again.

Outstanding. I learned alot. He was much more than

Outstanding. I learned Jefferson was much more then the author than the Declaration of Independence.

A must for students of History

Gave me an insight into the life and times of our founding fathers. A critical book for those interested in how our nation was born.,